Tiltable loading tray



April 6, 1954 c. E. LARSON 2,674,386

TILTABLE LOADING TRAY Filed June 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR. 6mm 5 [Ales-0N xwxs Filed June 20,

C. E. LARSON TILTABLE LOADING TRAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a V Z6 I /5 a /f if In. 27

2/, Z2 [Z C1424 5 f I E O )7 Z /0 BY 1. 4; Z9 K x2z$w A rroe/vm Patented Apr. 6, 1954 'TILTABLE LOADING TRAY Carl E. Larson, Seattle, Wash., assignor to Tomlinson, Inc., Seattle, Wash, a corporation of Washington Application June 20, 1952, Serial No. 294;569

Claims. 1

My invention relates to a loading mechanism and more particularly to a loading .tray which is moved angularly upwardly, then forwardly toward a device where articles upon the tray are to be loaded, and then tilted, so that articles thereon will move by gravity into a device to be loaded.

A practical application of my invention is the loading of a laundry tumbling or shaker device for clothes.

In the commercial washing of clothes, it is common practice to place the clothes of a particular customer in a net bag having a numbered safety pin secured thereto so that the clothes may be handled as a unit during the washing and drying processes and then the clothes of a particular customer can be readily identified, after th clothes have been so processed, by the said num bered safety pin.

After washing, the various net bags which are washed together are commonly placed in a centrifugal wringer and Water removed by centrifugal force. At thesame time, the various pieces of clothing in a particular net bag are packed rather tightly against each other and the net bags are packed rather tightly against each other because of the centrifugal force involved in separating the water from the clothes.

After the clothes leave the centrifugal dryers, they are normally delivered to a dryer or tumbling device so that the clothesare shaken and the clothes becomes loose in a net bag and the net bags are separated. My invention relates to a loading mechanism which may be employed to transfer clothes to the dryer or tumbling device.

Tumbling or shaker devices as now employed have a loading opening which is circular and is approximately four feet above the floor level. Also the tumbling or shaker devices now on the market not only rotate about an axis coaxial with the loading opening but they also rotate for loading and unloading about an axis at right angles to the said axis of rotation previously mentioned. The loading mechanism of my invention must be movable away from an initial,

. convenient loading position therefore, thence to a location to load the shaker mechanism, and thence to a position to allow the shaker mechanism to operate without interference from the loading mechanism. Also the loading mechanism of my invention must be provided with means to dump or tilt the tray at the end of its loading stroke so that the articles on the tray can slide by gravity downwardly on the tray and into a suitable mechanism, as .a tumbling or shaker device. I I

Another characteristic of theloading mechanism of my invention is the smoothness of operation so that there is no sudden jolting or jarring because of sudden engagement of the tray with a tilting member.

My invention is characterized bymovable arms or levers and a trip-chain or link interconnecting between the tiltable tray and the movable arms so there is a gradual tightening of the cable and a gradual tilting of the tray to the end of the loading stroke so as to provide smoothness of operation and elimination of jarring or jolting action which tends to shorten the life of the mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in this art.

In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view and with parts broken away of a devic embodying my invention and with the device in its normal or restposition;

Fig. 2 is-a view similar to Fig. 1 except the parts are shown in a later part of the cycle through which parts thereof travel and at that portion of the cycle when the tilting mechanism is just commencing to tilt the loading tray, and a fragment of a tumbler to be loaded is shown in connection with Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of the drawings and the parts are shown in that part of the cycle wherein the tray has been elevated its maximum amount and has been tilted its maximum amount; and

Fig. 4 is'an end elevational view taken substantially on broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Now referring to the drawings, the base or frame structure may comprise side walls l0 and end walls H. The said side walls and end walls form a box-like structure which encloses the moving parts when the device is .at rest and also forms the base frame to which the parts may be secured and supported thereby.

The tiltable tray [2 is preferably provided with a bottom wall, two side walls, and an open front so that upon tilting, the tiltable tray member 12 will be unloaded by gravity.

The tray member I2 is rigid with two laterally spaced apart depending supports I3. The spaced apart supports I3 are connected by pivot members I4 with spaced apart horizontally extending channel members or links I5. Each of the links I5 is pivotally mounted at one end portion to a link I6 by a pivot I! and at its other end portion to a link I8 by a cross rod or shaft IS. The links I6 and I8 are each pivotally connected with the box-like structure IB-II by cross rods and 2I respectively. Each of the links I8 is preferably provided with an arm-like portion 22 which arm portions connect with means for moving the links It and I8 and parts connected therewith including the tray I2. Thus the links it, I6 and I8 and portions of the box-like base Iii-I I form two laterally spaced apart parallelograms, each having pivots at the corners, and they support the tray I2. The links I5 remain horizontal during their travel and the links 56 and I8 remain parallel during the movement illustrated by Figs. 1 to 3.

Means to angularly move the arm portions 22 of the links I8 and parts associated therewith, may comprise a cylinder 22- having therein a piston (not shown) connected with a piston rod 24 which in turn is connected with cross rod 25 and which cross rod 25 connects between arm portions 22 of links IS. A cylinder member 23 is pivotally connected by pivot means 26 with the box-like structure I9I I. The cylinder means 23 is connected to any suitable source of fluid pressure (as compressed air) by means not shown. By conventional valving mechanisms, the piston within the cylinder 23 moved by fluid pressure in either direction and thus the rod 24 is reciprocated under pressure in either direction to angularly move the arm portions 22 in either direction and thus raise and lower the tray I2.

In order to cushion or dampen the travel of the tray I3 and parts associated therewith, two dampening means are preferably employed. One of said dampening means comprises a cable 2! having one end portion thereof connected with cross rod 25. The cable 21 then is reeved about sheeve or pulley 28 which sheevc or pulley 28 is supported by the box-like structure IIl-II. Then the cable 2'! is connected with an extensible spring member 23 which is connected with the box-like structure iii-i I. Thus as the arm portion 22 moves in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 of the drawings and toward the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the

spring member 29 is extended and thus cushions or dampens the travel of the tray member I2 and parts associated therewith as the said parts are assuming the rest or normal position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In other words, spring member 29 cushions the tray I2 during its downward travel.

In order to cushion the arm portions 22 and parts connected therewith during the last portion of their travel from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4, i. e. upward travel, I provide a slotted link or bar 3I having an elongated slot 32. The cross rod 25 travels in said slot 32 as is indicated by a comparison of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Just before the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 3, the rod 25 engages the end portion of link 3I to the left in the drawings and extends tension spring 33. Tension spring 33 connects between link 3i and an end wall II shown to the right in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The link 4 3| and spring 33 are shown disposed to one side of cylinder 33 in Fig. 4.

A cable or link means 34 is connected at one end portion with arms I8 through a cross bar 35 (see Fig. 4). The cross bar 35 interconnects arm portions 22. The other end portion of cable 34 connects with a support I3 on the same side of the device at 36. Obviously only one link or cable 34 need be employed if so desired but preferably one cable 34 is employed on each side of the device, as shown, for smoothness of operation. In view of the fact that we have a parallelogram involving links I5, I6, I8 and a portion of the box-like structure I0-I I, the links I6 and I8 will remain parallel with each other even though the distance between the links will vary as they travel between the rest position shown in Fig. 1 and the fully extended position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. Also the distance between 36 on a support I3 and the cross bar 35 will change with travel of the links I8 and. the distance reaches its maximum just prior to the parts assuming the position shown in Fig. 3. At such time, the cable or link 34 will maintain the same distance between 36 on a support I3 and the link I8 on the same side of the device. Further travel of the links I8 in a clockwise direction will thus cause the tray I2 to be tilted as is indicated by a comparison of the various figures of the drawings. As the links I8 and the supports I3 are both traveling at the time the cable 34 becomes taut, the action of the link or cable 34 in tilting the tray I2 will be characterized by extreme smoothness of operation.

In order to cushion the tray I2 as it moves back from the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings toward the normal rest position where the tray rests on the support comprising the links I 5, I preferably provide a cushioning member which includes two tension springs 31, each of which connects between supports I3 and thus in turn with the tray I2 and links I8. Again preferably there is a spring 31 disposed on each side of the device for smoothness of operation. Each of the springs 31 is extended as the tray I2 moves back to its normal or rest position and hence as the tray moves in a counter-clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings to the normal rest position, a cushion or dampening device operates and each spring 3'! is extended. As the tray I2 is moved toward the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the spring member 31 augments the link 01' cable 34 in tilting the tray. Thus the pivotal support I l for the tray I2 should be located so there is suflicient leverage or mass to the left of said pivotal support as respects the showing in the drawings, so that the weight on said side of the pivotal support will cause the springs 37 to be extended and will cause the tray I2 to assume a normal position when the tray I2 rests against a platform comprising the links I5.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided a loader mechanism having linkage comprising preferably two parallelograms with pivots at the corners in the nature of links I6, I5, I8 and a portion of a box-like structure I!l I. The pivotal supports comprise pivots 20 and cross shaits II, I9, and 2i. Next I have provided a tray member I2 pivotally connected with said linkage at a forward upper end portion thereof as by pivot means I4. The tray member I2 carries the depending link means, such as spaced apart links I3, and which depending link means is carried by and rigid with the forward portion of the tray I2. Next I have provided link means as cables or links 34 which interconnect the depending link means I3 with the trailing mid portion of the linkage as the link or links I8. Thus upon forward and upward travel of said linkage and said link means 34, the link means 34 will become taut and will gradually tilt the tray member I2.

Describing a device of my invention in another way, I have provided the base member Ill-II. Next I have provided spaced apart first and second link means I 6 and I8 which are respectively pivoted at one end portion to the said base member III-II by pivots 20 and cross shaft 2 I. The said links I6 and I8 on each side of the device are mounted to travel in a common plane. Next I have provided a third link I5 between each set of links I6I8 and the links I5 each have pivots at its end portions such as cross shafts I1 and I9. Each set of links I5, I6 and I8 together with a portion of the box-like structure III form a parallelogram and with pivots at the four corners thereof. Next I have provided a tray member I2 which is pivotally connected with the end portion of the third link I which is connected to the first link means I6. The pivotal mounting means between the link I5 and the tray I2 comprises preferably two pivots I4 at the opposite sides of the tray I2. Next I preferably provide two laterally spaced apart depending fourth link means I3, each of which is carried by and rigid with a forward portion of the tray I2. Next I have provided fifth link means 34 each of which interconnects a depending fourth link means I3 with a mid portion of the second link means I8. By this structure, as the links I5 and I8 travel upwardly, the fifth link means 34 gradually becomes taut and tilts the tray member I2.

Preferably one of the link means IE or I8 carries a depending arm 22 and power means are provided to angularly move said depending arm means 22. I have indicated power means in the nature of a cylinder 23 having a fluid operated piston therein, together with the crank arm 24.

Preferably the linkage comprising links I6, I5 and I8 is cushioned in its travel in both directions. This may be accomplished by the use of springs 33 and 29 and parts associated therewith. Also preferably the tray I2 is cushioned in its downward travel or in its travel toward the links I5 as by springs 31.

Obviously changes may be made in the forms dimensions and arrangements of the parts of my invention without departing from the principle thereof, the above setting forth only a preferred form of embodiment of my invention.

I claim:

1. A loader mechanism comprising a base member; a first and second spaced apart link means each pivoted at one end portion to said base member and mounted to travel in a common plane; a third link pivotally connected at its end portions to the other end portions of said two spaced first links and mounted to travel in said common plane, the pivots being positioned to lie in the four corners of a parallelogram; a tray member pivotally connected with the end portion of the third link connected with the first link means; depending fourth link means carried by and rigid with a forward portion of said tray; fifth link means interconnecting said depending fourth link means and a mid portion of said second link means; and link actuating means for angularly moving all of said. link means from a lower position forwardly and upwardly, whereby upon forward and upward travel of all of said link means, said fifth link means will become taut and will gradually tilt said tray member.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein parallel laterally spaced apart first, second, and third link means are employed.

3. A loader mechanism comprising a base member; a first and second spaced apart link means each pivoted at one end portion to said base member and mounted to travel in a common plane; a third link pivotally connected at its end portions to the other end portions of said two spaced first links and mounted to travel in said common plane, the pivots being positioned to lie in the four corners of a parallelogram; a tray member pivotally connected with the end portion of said third link which latter link is connected with the first link means; depending fourth link means carried by and rigid with a forward portion of said tray; fifth link means interconnecting said depending fourth link means and a mid portion of said second link means, whereby upon forward and upward travel of all of said link means, said fifth link means will become taut and will gradually tilt said tray member; depending arm means connected with one of said first and second link means; and power means connected with and angularly moving said depending arm means.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein cushioning means are employed to cushion the travel of said various link means.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein cushioning means are employed to cushion the travel of said pivotally mounted tray member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,442,267 Gross et al Jan. 16, 1923 1,589,529 Holland June 22, 1926 2,327,473 Wagner et al Aug. 24, 1943 2,621,817 McNamara, Jr Dec. 16, 1952 2,628,730 Speicher et al Feb. 17, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 485,698 Germany Nov. 2, 1929 

